We can't really decide on the tent of our dreams! We had a Kampa Studland which was brilliant designed but after two tents with faults, we had to return it.
We are now on the look for a tent similar to the Studland but would prefer the bedrooms to be all together divided just by zips as our children are young.
There are 5 of us but could expand to 6 sometime in the next 2 years!
Our shortlist is as follows;
Outwell Sunvalley 6 or 8 (possibly second hand for this)
Outwell Vermont L or XL (not sure about the bedroom configurations of the XL)
Outwell Montana 6 (a bit small perhaps)
Outwell Arkansas 7 (heavy?)
Our short list seems just to consist of Outwells as they seem to be the only manufacturers other than Kampa who do one big bedrooms.
It has to be polyester for quick drying as we tend to camp when it rains! We have a small garden and the above tents are bigger than our garden so maintainance is difficult!
We will most likely get a separate utility tent as I prefer to cook away from the main tent.
At the moment we have our old Vango Venture 500 which may see us through the summer if we get a utility tent as I am not sure if it is the right time to buy a brand new tent as prices seem so expensive at the moment!
Thanks for any advice,
P
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My own personal favourites of the above would be the Vermonts.
A lovely big seperate front porch area,plenty of sleeping space and a handy wardrobe/storage inner.
They are quite big,but very easy to erect once you have had a trial run.
The Montana 6 is smaller,but the optional front extension makes it a lot bigger and gives you a nice area to cook/sit in.
Both the SV 6 and 8 are also excellent choices.The poles are not as sturdy as the other as they are fibre glass not steel,still great tents though.
Decisions,decisions...............
------------- Sue & Phil
--------------------- I Love My AeroBed
Thanks for your help again. I see that you have a SV, have you ever broken the poles? The poles on the SV seem lighter compared to the other tent poles. There may be a time in the future when I will go away on my own without the kids so would rely on a 7/8 year old to help me! I struggled with the Studland last week as my OH just left me holding all the poles while he went to look for the pegs!!!
We have had a SV6 and then bought the SV8 for the extra space and to separate the girls!!
It's a great tent and gives lots of living space as well as fitting everyone in n the bedrooms - and the front bedroom pod can be removed if need be.
We had some pretty strong wind last time out with the SV8 and it stood up to it no problem at all. I think the horizontal 'storm poles' really help a lot.
If you can find one I would recommend you go for that - OR Beefysmum has one near enough exactly the same but just a different make and I can't for the life of me remember it's name.
Found it - Sunncamp Eden (have a look through the tent pics thread from the beginning and there is a pic of it there)
------------- Keely :-))
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Quote: Originally posted by jordan-caws on 31/5/2009
Thanks for your help again. I see that you have a SV, have you ever broken the poles? The poles on the SV seem lighter compared to the other tent poles. There may be a time in the future when I will go away on my own without the kids so would rely on a 7/8 year old to help me! I struggled with the Studland last week as my OH just left me holding all the poles while he went to look for the pegs!!!
Hi
I think that you'd struggle to put up an SV or the others on your own. I once put up our SV8 on my own, in dead calm conditions, as an experiment to see how practicable it is. Never again. After about an hour and a half of hard manual labour, I felt as if I'd run a Marathon while carrying a sack of coal, and had to lie down in a dark room.
Btw - we've never had any pole problems with the SV. Once the tent is up, it flexes in a wind, but that's what it is designed to do. I think that the pole problems come mainly when erecting the thing in windy conditions. So I don't think we'll be taking ours to Shetland.
I agree with zorro, All the big tent mentioned above will be very hard going to erect solo, and wouldn't really recommend any of them for that purpose.
the sunncamp globalwould suit you with the one big bedroom , now discontinued , but you may find secondhand on ebay.as a guide price ,they were around £399, but were reduced to £250 at the end of last year. Great tent , similar to montana 6 in size with canopy included
------------- Debbie
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Thanks for your help. Sunncamp global would be ideal too, if I can see one in the flesh before purchase.
I wouldn't erect a heavy tent solo, I was wondering if I could find one light enough for my eldest daughter to help. She would perhaps be about 8 years old, when I might consider going solo camping with the kids!
Quote: Originally posted by jordan-caws on 31/5/2009
Thanks for your help again. I see that you have a SV, have you ever broken the poles? The poles on the SV seem lighter compared to the other tent poles.
Hi,
No we have never broke a pole.They are quite thick (12mm)I think.
You will certainly need 2 people to put it up.
------------- Sue & Phil
--------------------- I Love My AeroBed